A Hand in the Night
by sarcasticallydelicious
Summary: Leona tries to support Vayne off the battlefield.
1. A Friendly Face

Savvy v. to understand

* * *

She brought tea, a peace offering for intruding. They'd only spoken once or twice, so whether Vayne's isolation was voluntary or not was still a mystery, but at least she would appreciate the hot drink.

Leona found her on the roof, overlooking the Institute's campus. Dark clouds obscured the sky, leaving molted patches of silver and black across the rooftops. The night was a chill one, with a breeze that reminded any out of the early hour of morning.

Vayne's flapping cape and imposing silhouette were the only indicators of her presence. Otherwise, crouched over and unmoving as she was, she could be yet another gargoyle guarding the roof.

Taking care to keep her footfalls light enough to not lose her footing on the shingles but heavy enough so her target would hear her approach, Leona moved to the edge of the roof. She set down her things and sat next to Vayne with her legs dangling into empty space.

"How are you this night, Night Hunter?"

Vayne made no move to acknowledge the other champion's presence. Even watching her as she was, Leona could not be sure whether her lips moved when she responded.

"You should leave. Your being here will scare off my prey."

"And what prey would that be?" Leona asked lightly. She collected the tea pot from the tray and poured a cup. "Surely you don't expect some crazed witch to attack the Institute."

"No, the threats here have been invited in. Monsters, witches, the League welcomes them all." Her face, lit by the dulled moonlight, stood white and hard against the night sky. "But I know their true faces. I will not forget, or slack in my vigil."

Leona offered her a cup of tea. Vayne ignored her,

"But what do you hope to accomplish, out like this every night? Besides painting truly impressible dark circles around your eyes."

Vayne's face could have been carved marble. "That is none of your concern, sun champion."

"The sun reaches all of Runeterra, even you."

Vayne did not respond.

The cup had grown cold in her hand. Leona set it back on the tray. Perhaps it was time for a change in tactics.

"You seem quite comfortable with heights. Have you always been that way?"

A tiny crack appeared in the marble.

"No."

Leona offered her a fresh cup of tea. This time, Vayne took it. She didn't drink, just held it in front of her face and inhaled.

Well, it was a start.


	2. An Offered Hand

Callithump n. a noisy boisterous band or parade

* * *

Vayne invites Leona to a Demacian festival.

Celebrations and festivals in Demacia were few and far between, but those they did have were quite the spectacle.

This one commemorated the founding of the nation, and was the biggest holiday on the Demacian calendar. Leona had asked around about it before coming, and it certainly lived up to the hype. Lanterns adorned the narrow streets, lighting the already bright streets despite the late hour. The crowds flowed around tents in Demacian blue and gold, and the happy chatter was unmistakable for anything other than a festival.

According to Lux, the entire Demacian Peacekeeping Force was out tonight, keeping order on one of the few nights where the citizens could stay out past curfew. There were only a single pair visible here though; this poorer district apparently didn't merit a larger police presence.

There was nothing like this on the Mountain, Leona thought. Rakkor holidays tended to involve tournaments and usually marked the beginning of some raid on foreign soil that meant she would be seeing some of her friends for the last time. Solari festivals had been somewhat more like this, but the entire Solari did not have the number of people crammed on this single street.

The smell of fried dough drifted up to her. Leona wondered what it would be like to be down there in the throng.

Glancing to her left, she saw Vayne perched on the rickety wooden shingles, same as she always was. The extra light from the street had her getup keeping more of its color and glinted off her glasses and silver bolts. If anything, the warm light from below made Vayne seem even paler. She needed to eat better, maybe get a little more sun. Though the Night Hunter seemed to think that these little excursions counted on that front.

"So do you go to many of these thing?" Leona called, keeping her voice low enough not to carry but loud enough so Vayne could hear her over the noise of the crowd. "You've lived in the Capital all your life, haven't you?"

Vayne paused long enough that Leona wondered if she'd heard. "Yes, I come to all the festival nights. They are a favorite of thieves and criminals, and sometimes an even more dangerous element. So I make sure to that I am here, too."

She should have expected that response, Leona supposed. Still, she kept pushing. "And have you been to any as an attendee?" She surveyed the festival goers. Many were families, even the children dressed up in their finest, colorful and happy. "Maybe as a child?"

Again, the silence stretched between them, even if it wasn't actually silent.  
Leona sighed. She had been making headway, but she supposed she'd just set herself back a few meetings. She should have known better than to ask about Vayne's childhood.

"There!" The Night Hunter came alive, rising in a single fluid motion and grabbing her crossbow. She pointed down one of the side alleys. "There they go."

Leona jumped up, running along the rooftop to get a better view. She could see the pair of thugs running down the alley, away from the bright lights of the festival.

Leona summoned her sword and shield with a simple thought. She offered Vayne a hand, which the Night Hunter took without hesitation. "Hang on."

She threw a spear of sunlight at the fleeing men, which was thankfully hidden from the festival goers by the many lanterns. She had to be careful using the sun's power after dark; she couldn't recharge until dawn, and the night was still young.

They flew across the street in a streak of light and slammed into the men. The bag they carried went flying, and the four tumbled to the uneven cobblestones. Leona held the one down with her shield, while Vayne pulled out her crossbow and pinned the other to the wall.

"Well, that wasn't too hard."

Vayne stared down the alleyway, a vigilant statue. "More come."

Indeed they did. Leona quickly pinned the thief to the wall with his friend before shouldering her way between Vayne and the group of hulking brutes emerging from behind the buildings.

Leona supposed she would have to stop saying such things. This was always the result. She should have learned by now.

Groaning thugs covered the alleyway. The festival must have been a particularly enthralling one; not a single curious citizen had interrupted their fight. Or maybe it was a testament to Demacian discipline. Leona didn't know, and didn't particularly care as she hogtied yet another of the thieves. "Are festival nights always like this?"

"Yes." Vayne pinned the rope to the wall in a line with the others. She would send a note to the pair of Peacekeepers a few blocks up. "That is why we must be vigilant."

Chuckling to herself, Leona grabbed the last goon.

"The fried cakes," Vayne mumbled to Leona, almost imperceptible over the sounds of the crowd. "They were my favorite."

Leona smiled at her and handed her the ropes.


	3. A Test of Faith

Obtain v. 1: to gain or attain usually by planned action or effort, 2: to be generally recognized or established: prevail

* * *

The night was a good one, Leona thought, testing the wind. Clear, little chance of rain, and bright enough to see any approaching attackers. In all, a perfect night for a hunt.

Vayne seemed to agree. She'd been putting off the outing for half a week. Her face revealed nothing as she focused over her pendulum, but Leona kept watching her furtively nonetheless. Usually she was nothing if not professional.

On that note, Leona wore plain leather armor instead of her usual Solari outfit. The tooled sun adorning it were the concession to her title, and even these were uncolored and dull compared to her usual shining red and gold. After last time when an assassin had noticed them lurking by the light glinting off her armor, Vayne had not allowed Leona anywhere near her after the sun set until she found some replacement.

Vayne looked up from her pendulum to the southeast and nodded.

Leona walked over, her footfalls light on the shingles in her boots. "Where to now?"

"This way."

Tonight's mission was an important one, Leona knew, despite the delays. Vayne had given her very few specifics, only that a number of children had gone missing throughout a certain section of the capital. But Vayne would not have called on Leona in anything other than a dire situation. From some of the other Demacian champions, Leona had heard tell of time Vayne had taken down half a dozen practitioners by herself, and even after several months Leona wasn't sure whether the Night Hunter actually liked her.

Leona followed Vayne across the rooftops, finding her footing more easily through a combination of practice and more utilitarian armor. Lights flashed past them from below as they leapt between the rooftops, the warm magelights contrasting with the cool moonlight from above.

Leona frowned. They were heading away from the area where the children had been disappearing. While that was not overly surprising, it did suggest a more planning on their opponents' part.

She sped up until she was running alongside the Night Hunter. Vayne's heavy cape buffeted her as she approached and she had to throw up an arm to keep from getting tangled in it.

"Can you tell me more about what we'll be facing?" she asked as quietly as she could to be heard despite the rushing air.

Vayne kept looking forward, running in the direction her pendulum pointed despite never glancing down at it. She continued looking straight ahead as she responded. "This coven is practicing the blackest of black magics, and must be eliminated."

That didn't really answer any of her questions, but Leona let it go. Vayne knew this city and more about black magic than most of the witches she hunted. And while she questioned the elimination part of the plan, she would deal with that if it came to it. Her main focus was on keeping Vayne from getting killed, and helping her live with herself in this life she had chosen, which would likely be the harder of the two.

* * *

The house looked just like those around it, but Vayne seemed certain and that was good enough for Leona. The neighborhood was well kempt even by Demacian standards, the streets clean, the narrow buildings spotless, the decorative potted plants denoting the street for the rising merchant and artisan classes carefully coifed. It looked more like a street where your neighbor would get on your case for making noise after curfew than the den of a dangerous coven of witches, but Leona would not pretend to understand city folk.

As usual, Vayne's face showed nothing as they descended from the roof to the window. Leona wondered once again whether roaming the rooftops of her former home was as painful to Vayne as the Mountain could sometimes be to her. But that would be another question that would not be answered any time soon.

The smell of soup wafted through the window when Vayne pried a pane loose. Leona had to admit she had expected something more menacing.

They slipped into the interior of the building, taking a minute to let their eyes adjust to the relative darkness of the empty hallway. The clean wooden walls were just far enough apart to be simply narrow rather than cramped, though the thin table against the wall pushed it momentarily into uncomfortable territory. The dead flowers rustled against each other in their vase at the slight breeze from the open window.

Light shown from the bottom of the stairs. Leona motioned for Vayne to get behind her, which the Night Hunter did silently.

Leona crouched at the edge of the light, taking in the room.

A man in black robes stood near the center of the long room, chanting something in a language Leona didn't recognize. Some form of magic pulsed by his feel, dark tendrils creeping up from the circle around a small pale figure.

Leona's eyes widened and she jumped forward, summoning her shield and sword. The man barely had a moment to turn before she slammed into him, cutting off the chant, knocking him back into a stack of chairs and blinding him with a burst of sunlight.

She was about to follow up with her sword, but something was off. Eyes narrowed, she surveyed the room.

A click sounded behind her.

Leona dropped her weapon in a flash of sunlight and threw herself forward, tackling the dazed man to the ground and out of the path of the crossbow bolt. The arrow whizzed overhead and disappeared into the thing cabinet.

Vayne stood at the same time Leona did. Striding forward, Vayne notched another bolt and aimed it with practiced ease. When she saw Leona directly between her weapon and her prey, she frowned.

"Move."

Leona positioned herself more squarely in Vayne's path. In the cramped apartment, there was little room around her.

"No."

Vayne's glasses let no expression through. "He is a practitioner of the dark arts and a danger to all honest citizens of this city. He must die."

Leona took a step forward. "He's not a threat and you know i-"

She didn't have time to finish the sentence as Vayne vaulted to the side, diving in the narrow space between Leona and the table. Vayne rolled, her crossbow already rising and taking aim at its target.

Leona leapt into motion too, catching Vayne's arm and shoving it so the bolt embedded itself in the wall instead of the prone man behind her. Leona kept her grip on Vayne's wrist with one hand and forced her shoulder to the thin carpet with her other.

"Look around," Leona ordered, panting. "That girl?" She motioned with her chin to the child in the circle, "dead for at least a week. About the amount of time children have been going missing. And if that pot of soup and pile of bowls are any indication, we'll find the missing children somewhere not too far from here."

Vayne's features contorted. Leona nearly flinched back, the change was so drastic from her normally impassive features. "No! He is a witch! He has not die!"

She strained against Leona's grip, still yelling, but it was a futile exercise. Leona simply waited until she tired and stopped.

Leona looked down at Vayne sadly as she struggled to regain her composure. "The street thugs we left for the watch during the coronation festival. Why do they deserve a second chance and a well-meaning, but foolish, father doesn't?"

"He needs to die," Vayne whispered hoarsely. "Acts of black magic cannot be forgiven."

"Demacia has cells to hold the most seasoned war mage," Leona replied calmly, keeping her weight on Vayne despite the lack of struggle. "Do you think they will have trouble controlling a first-time practitioner?"

She sighed at Vayne's stony silence, wracking her brain for some other argument. Finally, she asked, "Vayne, why did you invite me on this mission? I know you scouted beforehand, and you were more than capable of stopping him on your own."

When Vayne didn't answer, she continued. "The only reason I can think of is that you wanted me to stop you."

Vayne opened her mouth, then closed it again. While her face had returned to its mask-like state, Leona could see the cracks around the edges.

She felt Vayne relax against her grip, and Leona let her go. Reaching into her bag, she pulled out a pair of enchanted manacles she'd borrowed from Caitlyn for just this purpose.

"Look at him as a test case. That maybe there can be redemption from a life of black magic."

Vayne said nothing.

* * *

Vayne helped Leona bring the witch to the watch and gave them very thorough instructions on his containment. She was nowhere to be found when Leona returned the children to their families.

Hopefully she hadn't pushed her too hard, Leona thought as she returned to the League. Vayne might not like her, but she had come to like the taciturn Demacian. She had a heavy burden to bear, and Leona was still a long way from convincing her that she didn't have to bear it alone.


End file.
